Canonical Releases Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

Canonical has launched Ubuntu 12.04 LTS for the desktop, marking the fourth long-term support (LTS) release with maintenance updates guaranteed for five years.

According to Canonical, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS includes support for desktop virtualization from Citrix and VMware, as well as Microsoft RDP 7.1. Thus, enterprise users have a choice for office productivity: remote delivery of desktop applications, browser-based cloud solutions like Google Docs, or the native, Microsoft-compatible LibreOffice suite that comes pre-installed.

New to those upgrading from the last LTS release will be Unity, Ubuntu's user interface, which, according to the company, has undergone many hours of user testing and has been refined to improve day-to-day productivity.

"For large enterprise deployments with long-term planning processes, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is our best desktop yet," said Jane Silber, CEO of Canonical. "Thanks to our expanded hardware partnerships, we'll make regular updates to support new PCs from certified partners like Dell, HP and Lenovo. And we'll support even more companies that make the switch to Ubuntu on their desktops."

Canonical provides optional commercial support for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS in the form of Ubuntu Advantage. According to the company, the program offers a choice of two levels of support, along with access to the Landscape administration tool, which includes audit, compliance, and ongoing management features for large desktop deployments. Ubuntu customers can include their entire deployment in the support agreement or just a subset that they select. Click here for more information.